Baseball Mustangs tear up Solvay

By getting all the way to the Section III Class B-1 title game in 2007, the Marcellus baseball team ended years of middling performance and started to charge again.

Building upon that success, the Mustangs worked hard in the off-season to make 2008 even more successful — and the initial returns proved quite promising.

Up against Solvay in last Thursday’s OHSL Liberty division opener, the Mustangs used an offensive surge in the middle of the game to pound the Bearcats 13-6.

Marcellus got on the board in the bottom of the second inning, scoring twice. That lead grew to 5-1 an inning later, and the Mustangs sealed it by earning six runs in the bottom of the fourth, all part of an eventual 12-hit attack.

Scott Cotter had a hot start to his season, doubling and finishing with four RBIs. John Marrs, Bill Walter and Dan Heil each drove in two runs as Heil and Walter were also credited with doubles.

Dan Zdanowski, expected to be the Mustangs’ ace on the mound, went most of the way until a Solvay rally in the seventh inning forced Tom Nowak to get the last outs in relief.

On Monday, if the weather held up, Marcellus would visit Cazenovia before a Wednesday home game against Hannibal.